Smart tool arm for precision agriculture

ABSTRACT

An illustrative modular smart tool arm operable by a precision agricultural implement includes a mount for coupling the tool arm to the implement, an articulating base including a pair of linkages, a lift actuator, and linear motion bearings coupling the base to the mount. A unitary backbone member is coupled to the linkages and defines a mount for an agricultural tool and defines a mount for a machine vision module.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a nonprovisional patent application of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/971,991, filed Feb. 9, 2020, and titled MODULARPRECISION AGRICULTURE IMPLEMENT; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/972,641, filed Feb. 10, 2020, and titled MODULAR PRECISIONAGRICULTURE IMPLEMENT; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.63/074,544, filed Sep. 4, 2020, and titled MODULAR PRECISION AGRICULTUREIMPLEMENT; each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to automated machinery, and particularly,to a machine vision enabled tool arm for an agricultural implement.

SUMMARY

The present invention may comprise one or more of the features recitedin the attached claims, and/or one or more of the following features andcombinations thereof.

An illustrative modular smart tool arm operable by a precisionagricultural implement includes a mount for coupling the tool arm to theimplement, an articulating base including a pair of linkages, a liftactuator, and linear motion bearings coupling the base to the mount. Aunitary backbone member is coupled to the linkages and defines a mountfor an agricultural tool and defines a mount for a machine visionmodule.

Additional features of the disclosure will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of the illustrative embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying Figs.in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a tool arm 300 of the agriculturalimplement 100 of FIG. 11A;

FIG. 2A is a first side perspective view of a backbone of tool arm 300of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B is a second side perspective view of a backbone of tool arm 300of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the tool arm 300 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial top side perspective view of the tool arm 300 ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an end side perspective view of the tool arm 300 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an end side perspective view of the tool arm 300 of FIG. 1with z-axis slide tables 380;

FIG. 7 is a side bottom perspective view of a tool attachment 400 thetool arm 300 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a top cross-sectional perspective view of an actuator 420 ofthe attachment 400 of FIG. 7, taken along the section lines illustratedin FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side cross-sectional elevation view of the actuator 420 ofthe attachment 400 of FIG. 7, taken along the section lines illustratedin FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of selected components of theactuator 40 of the attachment 400 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional top view of the agricultural implement 100illustrated in a first state;

FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional top view of the agricultural implement 100illustrated in a second state;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are a schematic diagram of a hydraulic system 150 ofthe agricultural implement 100 of FIG. 11A;

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an electrical system 180 andcontrol system 200 of the agricultural implement 100 of FIG. 11A;

FIG. 14 illustrates commodity bed 52 a cultivated with prior artimplements and commodity bed 52 b cultivated with the agriculturalimplement 100 of FIG. 11A;

FIG. 15 shows an illustrative process of a portion of agriculturalimplement 100 of FIG. 11A;

FIG. 16 is an illustrative state machine for actuation of tools 410; and

FIG. 17 is an illustrative process of training and operating theagricultural implement of FIG. 11A for a commodity plant fieldoperation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

For the purposes of promoting and understanding the principals of theinvention, reference will now be made to one or more illustrativeembodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will beused to describe the same.

Referring to FIG. 11A, a cross-sectional top view, an illustrativeembodiment of modular precision agricultural implement 100 is shown.Implement 100 includes generally a chassis 102, control system 200, andmodular smart tool arms 300. For clarity, FIG. 1 illustrates a modularsmart tool arm 300 separated from the chassis 102, and FIGS. 5 and 6illustrate a chassis 102 without any tool arms 300 attached.

Referring again to FIG. 11A, the illustrated implement 100 includesthree tool arms 300, each of which include at least one agriculturaltools for working a crop and/or field, for example, a pair of toolattachments 400. However, in other embodiments (not shown) fewer thanthree or more than three tool arms may used with implement 100. Each ofthe tool attachments 400 includes a pair of actuating tools 410, in thisexample hoes used for cultivating. In FIG. 11A, the tools 410 are shownin an open position; however, upon actuation, each pair of tools 410travel together, closing the space there between. In alternativeembodiments of tool attachment 400, aspects of the tool attachment andthe control system 200 (computing and select other components of whichmay also be referred to collectively as ‘controller’ herein) may beadapted to providing intelligent tasks other than cultivation, forexample, thinning, selective spraying, data collection, and possiblyeven planting and harvesting. Selective spraying can include actuationand/or controlled movement of to direct delivery from nozzles or otherdelivery devices to apply wet or dry chemicals to commodity plants 60 orweeds 70, selected varieties of each, or both. Advantageously, chassis102 and tool arms 300 can be used thereby used with a number ofdifferent modular and releasably attachable precision tool attachments400 in addition to the illustrative tool attachment 400 disclosedherein.

Advantageously, chassis 102 can be propelled across commodity field 50using standard farm equipment, for example a tractor having a suitablepower takeoff (PTO) drive shaft and a hitch (not shown) to pull andoperate chassis 102. As will be discussed further below, the hydraulicsystem 150 and electric system 180 can both be powered by hydraulic pump152 driven by the tractor PTO.

To understand an illustrative application of the illustrative implement100 equipped with tool attachments 400 configured as a cultivator, refernow to FIGS. 14 and 15. Referring first to FIG. 14, commodity field 50includes raised beds 52 a and 52 b, each bounded along the sides andseparated by furrows 56. An illustrative western specialty row crop, forexample, romaine lettuce, is illustrated as commodity plant 60. Bed 52 ais illustrative of cultivating to remove weeds 70 using traditionalcultivator implements. Specifically, while weeds 70 grow within plantlines 62 in the spaces 74 between the commodity plants 60 and in thespaces 72 between plants lines 62, traditional cultivating only reachesand cuts or otherwise disrupts weeds 70 located in the spaces 72 betweenthe plant lines 62. The reason for this is that with traditionalcultivators, the cultivating blades or other tools are static fixeddevices which would destroy commodity plants 60 along with the weeds 70,if employed along the plant lines 62. This limitation has traditionallybeen addressed by using laborers to walk the beds 52 a and manuallyremove the remaining weeds 70 located within spaces 74 between commodityplants 60 of plant lines 62 with a hand hoe.

As illustrated in bed 52 b of FIG. 14, the illustrated implement 100equipped with tool attachments 400 configured as a cultivator can beused advantageously to weed both the space 72 between plant lines 62 andthe space 74 between commodity plants 60 within a plant line 62, alsocommonly referred to as a planting interval for a row or crop row.

FIG. 15 illustrates a portion of the process and features providing thisadvantage and overcoming the limitation of requiring manual hoeing toeffectively cultivate commodity field 50. Referring to step 1 of FIG.15, as implement 100 is operated along plant lines 62 of commodity field50 b, a control system 200, including a vision module 500 and perceptionsystem 270, classifies and locates each commodity plant 60 along eachplant line 62. By determining the center point location and/or bounds ofeach commodity plant 60 the blades 414 of cultivator tool 410 can beactuated to avoid damaging commodity plant 60. For example, as shown instep 2, as blades 414 approach each commodity plant 60 along plant lines62, cultivator tool attachment 400 then actuates cultivator tool 410 toextend the space between blades 414, as shown in step 3, therebyavoiding cutting or otherwise damaging the commodity plant 60. Referringto step 4, by determining a location of the center point and/or thebounds of each commodity plant, for example, the location of the rootstructure of the commodity plant at the depth of the blades 414, as theblades 414 of the cultivator tool 410 pass beyond each commodity plant60 along plant line 62, cultivator tool attachment 400 is actuatedagain, this time to close the space between blades 414, thereby againacting to remove the weeds 70 between commodity plants 60 within theline 62, for example, as shown in step 5.

The above listed and additional features of the illustrative implement100 will now be disclosed in further detail.

Referring to FIGS. 11A and 11B, a chassis 102 provides a universal,smart, modular implement platform for a variety of precisionagricultural implement applications. Chassis 102 generally includes aframe 110, wheel assemblies 120, a hitch receiver 140, a hydraulicsystem 150, and an electrical system 180. Frame 110 can include a frontcrossbar 104, a rear crossbar or toolbar 106, and end plates 108.Additional features of chassis 102 that also support the mounting andoperation of smart tool arm 300 along with toolbar 106 include plantline alignment bar 196, and threaded rod or screw 198, all of which willbe discussed further below. A key distinction in the function of toolbar106, plant line alignment bar 196, and screw 198 is that the toolbar 106alone supports the weight of the smart tool arms 300, while the screw198 and the plant line alignment bar 196 respectfully merely adjust theposition of and move a portion of each of the tool arms 300 along thex-axis 90.

An illustrative hitch receiver 140 coupled to crossbar 104 can be usedto pull chassis 102 with a three-point hitch as is typically found onfarm tractors. The hitch receiver includes lower devises 142 and anupper clevis 146; however, other attachment and hitching systems couldbe used.

Referring briefly to a schematic of hydraulic system 150 illustrated inFIGS. 12A and 15B, the hydraulic system includes generally a power takeoff (PTO) driven hydraulic pump 152 to power from a tractor pulling theimplement 100 the hydraulic system of chassis 102, hydraulic motor 154,reservoir 156, hydraulic oil cooler 158, distribution manifold 160,accumulator 162, and main regulator 164. Hydraulic motor 154 is drivenby the hydraulic oil pressure provided by pump 152. Hydraulic motor 154in turn drives, for example using a flexible belt, an electricalgenerator, for example, an alternator 182. Alternator 182, for examplean automotive type electric alternator, provides DC electric power forelectric system 180. Additional controls and actuators of hydraulicsystem 150 will be described below in further describing other aspectsof implement 100.

Electrical system 180 of chassis 102 can be alternatively powered byalternator 182 or battery 186. Additionally, alternator 182 is capableof charging battery 186. Electrical system 180 includes a powerdistribution and regulation module 184 (FIG. 13) that can provideregulated voltage, for example 12 V DC and 24 V DC, and voltage andcurrent transient protection. Electrical system 180 can also powerthermostatically controlled hydraulic oil cooler fans 188 and controlsystem 200, which will be described further below.

Additional features of chassis 102 will be discussed further below,following a discussion of the modular smart tool arms 300 that can besupported and operated by chassis 102, for example, as is generallyshown in FIG. 11A.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 11A, for numerous decades, a toolbar, forexample toolbar 106 apart from implement 100, has been the common pointof attachment for agricultural tools to configure an implement forparticular tasks and for particular commodity fields 50, whether it befor plowing, disking, planting, cultivating, spraying, harvesting, orchopping. In contrast, according to the present disclosure, the functionof prior agricultural toolbars can be provided and further improved uponby the illustrative tool arm 300 and the tool platform 370 (FIG. 9)provided therewith. Advantageously, various tool attachments, forexample, the illustrative tool attachments 400 shown in FIGS. 9 and 11,can be releasably mounted to and operated by tool arm 300 at toolplatform 370. Various aspects of chassis 102, control system 200, andtool arm 300 provide for modular, repeatable, precision in theconfiguration and intelligent operation of tool attachments 400.

The tool arm 300 is modular in part in that it includes a mountingstructure, for example, mount 310 which enables one or more tool arms tobe releasably secured to toolbar 106 of chassis 102, for example, asshown in FIG. 11A. The tool arm 300 is also modular in part because ofthe tool platform 370 and tool attachment 400 modularity introducedbriefly above and discussed more specifically further below. Tool arm300 is smart (intelligent) in part because it can optionally include avision module 500 (FIG. 1), enabling intelligent automated operation oftool attachments 400 and optional data collection regarding commodityfields 50, both of which will be discussed further below.

An important aspect of the precision of tool arm 300 is the design andmanufacture of a unitary or monolithic member for releasably mountingagricultural tools to, for example, a backbone 350. In the illustrativeembodiment shown in FIGS. 1-2B, the backbone 350 is milled from a singlealuminum billet, for example, approximately 1 to 1½ inch thick, whichlimits the weight of tool arm 300 while maintaining dimensionalstability required for a modular precision agricultural functionality.Backbone 350 can include a number of precision mounting features 364,including for example, the use of location and/or interference fittolerances in milling and adding features such as receiving bores,threaded bores, locating pins, recesses, and the like. These or otherprecision features may include with any of linkage mounts 356 adjacent abase end 354, tool mounts 360 adjacent tool end 358, a vision modulereceiving area 362, and a ground follower mount 366. These features arein contrast to prior art devices providing a tool attachment platformthat includes numerous members forming frames and other platforms thatlack uniformity of precision between one platform to another and/or thatlack dimensional stability and lack light weight that enables precisemotion control and ground following of the crop and field operationworking portion of the tool arm 300.

As will be evident from the above and below discussions of the operationof implement 100 using control system 200, it is particularly importantto maintain precise displacements between the vision module 500, theground follower 390, and the tool attachment 400, which is why all threeare modularly and precision mounted to a billet formed backbone 350.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, tool arm mount 310 includes sides 312, backspan 314, front span 316, clamp 320, and guides 322. Sides 312 arerigidly connected with back span 314 and front span 316. Thesecomponents can be formed, for example, from ¼-⅜ inch steel or otherrigid material. Sides 312 define an opening 318 which is sized toreceive toolbar 106 so that mount 310 may be secured thereon, forexample, as shown in FIG. 11A. As shown for FIG. 11A, the clamp 320 canbe used to fixedly secure mount 310 onto toolbar 106.

A system of adjustment left or right on toolbar 106 is included with themount 310 and can be utilized before clamp 320 is secured to more easilymove tool arm 300 into a desired position along the length of toolbar106. Referring to FIG. 5, sides 312 also define bores 324 that provideclearance for threaded rod 198 to pass therethrough. Advantageously, bylocating a pair of sleeves 326 around threaded rod 198 and between sides312, and locating a threaded adjustment nut 328 between the sleeves 326,small adjustments left and right to mount 310 along toolbar 106 can bemade. For example, by holding one of adjustment nut 328 and coupling 199from rotating, while at the same time rotating the other about threadedrod 198, the mount 310 will shift left or right depending on thedirection of rotation. For example, a coupling 199 is secured to thethreaded rod 198. If coupling 199 is held to prevent rotation whilethreaded adjustment nut 328 is rotated about the threaded rod 198, thenut will translate left or right on the thread, thereby translatingsleeves 326 and mount 310 left or right with it.

Referring again to FIGS. 3 and 5, backbone 350 of tool arm 300 iscoupled to mount 310 by articulating base 330. Advantageously,articulating base 330 provides translation of backbone 350 along thex-axis 90 and the z-axis 94 relative to mount 310. The x-axis 90 is theaxis parallel to the longitudinal axis of toolbar 106, and the z-axis 94is the vertical axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of toolbar106 and perpendicular to the working surface 58 of a commodity field 50.The articulating base 330 includes generally a linear slide table 332,linkages 342 and 344, and a lift actuator, for example, a lift hydrauliccylinder 346 for vertically supporting and translating backbone 350relative to the mount 310.

Referring to FIG. 5, linear slide table 332 includes linear bearings 334that translate along guides 322 of mount 310. More specifically, guides322 can be hardened cylindrical rods that provide a precision and wearresistant surface for linear bearings 334 to ride upon. Thisconfiguration advantageously allows backbone 350 and attached toolattachment 400 to translate smoothly and precisely along the x-axis 90of chassis 102 particularly because movement of the excess mass thatwould be involved with translating toolbar 106, mount 310, and otheradditional structure such as frame 110 is avoided.

Still referring to FIG. 5, brackets 338 each define an opening 339 sizedfor receiving therethrough a plant line alignment bar 196, as is shownin FIG. 11A. Referring to FIG. 11A, advantageously, the linear slidetables 332 of each of the tool arms 300 mounted to chassis 102 can beeach clamped to alignment bar 196 such that translation of the alignmentbar 196 along its longitudinal axis, for example using hydrauliccylinder 176 actuated by side shift valve 178, will simultaneously andequally shift the slide tables 332 and attached backbones 350 and toolattachments 400 of each of the tool arms 300.

For example, referring to FIG. 11B and comparing it to FIG. 11A, in FIG.11B the hydraulic cylinder 176 has been retracted, shifting plant linealignment bar 196 to the left and translating with it the articulatingbase 330, backbone 350, and tool attachment 400 portions of the toolarms 300. The spacing of the tool arms 300 relative to each otherremains precisely the same. Additionally, the large mass components suchas mounts 310 of tool arm 300, toolbar 106 and other portions of frame110 and chassis 102 remain in place.

The movement of the least amount of mass as practical to precisely,smoothly, and quickly shift the tool attachments 400 left and rightovercomes various disadvantages found in prior machines. For example,the actuation of hydraulic cylinder 176 left or right can be used tocontinually and precisely align tool attachments 400 with plant lines 62of the commodity field 50 to account for shifts in plant lines 62 thatoccurred during planting and to account for shifts in the tractorpulling chassis 102. Additionally, the control system 200 may include aside shift position sensor 238 (not shown), for example a switchindicating when plant line alignment bar 196 is centrally located, leftof center, and right of center, or, alternatively, an absolute positionencoder can be used, either of which facilitate closed loop control ofthe position of plant line alignment bar 196 and thus the position oftool attachments 400 in alignment with plant lines 62.

Referring to FIG. 3, an illustrative four-bar linkage is formed in partby a bottom link 342 coupled between pivot 340 of bracket 338 andlinkage mount 356 at base end 354 of backbone 350. The four-bar linkagealso includes top link 344 coupled between pivot 340 of bracket 338 andlinkage mount 356 of backbone 350. Cantilever 348 is coupled to thelinear slide table 332 that brackets 338 are coupled to, and support anend of the lift hydraulic cylinder 346, the opposite end of which iscoupled to bottom link 342 approximately mid-span. As arranged,retraction of lift hydraulic cylinder 346 translates backbone 350 andattached tool attachment 400 vertically upward along the z-axis 94 to alifted or retracted position, as is shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 11A. Inother embodiments (not shown) a different pivot and/or linkage structurecan be substituted for the four-bar linkage 336 to provide movementthrough the z-axis 94 for tool arm 300.

The lifted position of tool arm 300 is useful to secure the toolattachments 400 attached to tool arm 300 up and away from the ground,for example, when implement 100 is transitioning between commodityfields 50 or between the end of set of plant lines 62 and the beginningof an adjacent set. Additionally, if operating in a field 50 with fewerplant lines 62 per bed 52 than the implement 100 provides, then one ormore tool arms 300 can be selectively actuated to and locked, e.g.,manually/hydraulically or via system hydraulic controls 210, in thelifted position so that only those required for the number of plantlines are lowered and used, advantageously, without have to physicallyremove tool arm 300 or components thereof from implement 100. The heightof each tool arm 300 relative to the working surface 58 is set by theextension and retraction of hydraulic cylinders 346 for each tool arms300 attached to chassis 102.

In one embodiment, the height is controlled by controlling thecontinuous hydraulic pressure applied to each end of the piston of lifthydraulic cylinder 346. In another embodiment, the height is controlledby controlling the continuous differential of the hydraulic pressureapplied across the ends of the piston of the lift hydraulic cylinder346. In yet another embodiment, discussed further below, the height iscontrolled by setting a continuous regulated hydraulic pressure to oneend of the piston of the lift hydraulic cylinder 346, and bycontinuously controlling the hydraulic pressure applied to the other endof the piston of the lift hydraulic cylinder. For example, aproportional solenoid valve 170 (FIG. 12A) and analog pressure sensors(unnumbered, FIG. 12A) can be used as part of the control of thehydraulic pressure to control the height of the tool arms 300, as canfeedback from a height sensor 398 of tool arms 300 above the workingsurface 58, as is discussed further below.

For example, upon reaching the end of plant lines 62, the hitch of thetractor pulling chassis 102 can be used to lift it up by hitch receiver140. A lift sensor, for example, a pressure switch 218 (FIGS. 12A and12B) associated with gauge wheel hydraulic cylinder 172 can detect thatweight is off of the front axle 128 and activate a transit mode ofcontrol system 200, or a tilt sensor, accelerometer, ultrasonic sensor,or other motion, orientation, elevation, and distance sensor known inthe art may be used. Upon the control system 200 detecting via pressureswitch 218 that chassis 102 has been lifted, tool arm lift valves 170can optionally actuate hydraulic cylinders 346 of the tools arms 300 tolift them to the raised position, thereby providing clearance betweentools 410 and the ground. Additionally, if side shift position switch orencoder 238 detects the plant line alignment bar 196 is not mechanicallycentered, along with tool arms 300, then control system 200 actuatesside shift valve 178 and side shift cylinder 176 to a reset position,for example, the alignment bar 196 and attached tool arms 300 arereturned to mechanical center of the chassis 102 for the next operation.Additionally, control system 200 can deactivate the processing by visionmodule 500, perception system 270, and control of tool attachment 400 byruggedized controller 202 until the chassis 102 has been lowered andweight is again detected on front axle 128 via pressure switch 218,thereby pausing the working of a crop and/or field by an operation ofthe tool arms 300 at least until the chassis 102 is again lowered.

Returning to the discussion of tool arm 300, lift hydraulic cylinder 346also can be controlled during operation to lighten the downward forcetoward the ground of tool arm 300 due to the weight of the variouscomponents of the tool arm. By applying hydraulic pressure to eachactuation end of lift hydraulic cylinder 346, as introduced above, andindividually controlling each of those pressures, thus also controllingthe differential pressure, the amount of downward force operating oneach tool arm 300 is very dynamically controllable, and responsivenessto following changes in the soil profile/level in the bed 52 b for eachof the individual tool arms 300, as will be discussed further below inthe section further discussing the control system 200.

In a working or down position in which lift hydraulic cylinder 346 is atleast partly extended (not shown) the various tool attachments 400attached to the illustrative embodiment of the tool arm 300 areconfigured as a cultivator with a preferred operating depth of a shortdepth under the surface of the soil of bed 52. Referring now to FIGS. 1and 5, the ground follower 390 of tool arm 300 helps maintain thevertical position of backbone 350 along the z-axis 94 such that the toolattachments 400 supported by the backbone 350 remain at a preferreddepth or height relative to a working surface 58 of a field 50. In theillustrative embodiment shown in FIG. 1, ground follower 390 includes alever 392 pivotably coupled at a proximal end to the backbone 350,extending downward at an angle from the backbone, and coupled to adistal end of the lever is a ski, wheel, and/or other member forcontacting and following the working surface 58, for example, a roller396 rotationally coupled to the lever 392. In the illustrativeembodiment, the roller 396 does not support any weight of the tool arm300 within a normal range of motion through which the lever 392 pivotsas the height of backbone 350 above the working surface 58 varies;however, a stop 394, for example, an elastomeric bumper or the like,mounted between the lever 392 and tool arm 300 acts as a mechanicallimit to provide a limit to downward reduction of height of the backbone350 above the working surface 58, thereby limiting the range of downwardmovement of supported tool attachments 400 along the z-axis 94.

The illustrative embodiment also includes a height sensor 398, forexample an angular encoder, for determining the relative height of thebackbone and thus the working tools to the working surface 58. Forexample, the height in the illustrative embodiment is based on an leverpivot angle 399 of the lever 392 to the backbone 350, which changes asthe mass of the lever 392 and roller 396 keeps the roller 396 in contactwith the working surface 58 as a z-axis distance between the backbone350 to the working surface 58 changes. In other embodiments the heightsensor may be a ranging, accelerometer, or other sensor capable ofdetermining the relative height of the backbone 350 or tool attachments400 to the working surface 58.

The z-axis 94 location of the end of the various tool attachments 400attached a tool arm 300 are generally set at a desired height below thebottom of roller 396 and ski 398 for the illustrative application ofcultivation. By the control system 200 controlling the hydraulicpressure applied to a first port of the lift hydraulic cylinder 346 toprovide upward lift to backbone 350, at least a portion of theweight/mass of and supported by the tool arm 300 is supported and thedownward force of the roller 396 is reduced in order to prevent soilcompaction and excess lowering of the tool arm, while also maintainenough downward force and system responsiveness to follow the elevationof the soil surface of the bed 52 being worked.

For example, in an illustrative embodiment, a continuous regulatedhydraulic pressure of 600 psi provided to a first port of lift hydrauliccylinder 346 that provides upward movement of the backbone 350, and acontinuous regulated hydraulic pressure of 200 psi provided to a secondport of lift hydraulic cylinder 346 that provides downward movement ofthe backbone 350, provides a desired ‘float,’ i.e. upward offset orrelief of the weight of and supported by the tool bar 300, to provideresponsive following of the working surface 58 by the ground follower390 and thus the tool arm 300 and supported tool attachments 400, whilealso preventing excessive compaction of the working surface 58 by theground follower 390, which would extend the working tools downwardbeyond a desired height relative to the working surface 58.

Furthermore, in the illustrative embodiment, the control system 200receives data from one or more pressure sensors 222 for measuring thehydraulic pressure at the first and the second port, or the differentialhydraulic pressure, along with receiving data from the height sensor398, which together are used by the control system 200 to activelyregulate one of the continuous differential hydraulic pressure betweenthe first and second port, or the continuous regulated pressure appliedto the first port, in order to maintain the tool arm 300 and supportedtool attachments 400 at a desired height along the z-axis 96 relative tothe working surface 58. In one embodiment, a proportional hydraulicvalve 170 controlled by the control system 200 controls a continuous butvariable hydraulic pressure to the first port, feedback of that pressureis provided by the pressure sensor 222, and the continuous regulatedbackside pressure to the second port is preset and not variablycontrolled. An advantage in responsiveness and precision in desiredheight of the tool arm 300 over a working surface 58 having variedconditions and varied elevation is provided over prior art designs bythe combination of the continuous and regulated downward pressuresupplied to the second port, and the continuous variably controlledupward pressure supplied to the first port of the lift hydrauliccylinder 346. In one illustrative embodiment, a separate proportionalhydraulic valve 170 and pressure sensor 222 is used for each of thetools arms 300 and hydraulic cylinders 346. In one illustrativeembodiment, the control system 200 incorporates a low pass filter to theheight control data from the height sensor 398, and/or other damping tothe control of the height of the tool arm 300. In another illustrativeembodiment, the lever 392 is fixedly mounted to the backbone 350.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 17, a vision module 500 includes modulehousing 504 which can be precisely coupled to backbone 350 by mountinginterface 502 and precision mounting features 364, for example preciselylocated threaded bores and/or locator pins, within a protected visionmodule receiving area 362. The vision module 500 also includes a pair oflamps 506 coupled to vision module housing 504 by lamp mounts 508. Inthe illustrative embodiment, the lamps 506 are of sufficient intensityto greatly reduce or eliminate the effects of sunlight and resultingshadows that may otherwise be experienced by vision module 500 andassociated perception system 270.

In the illustrated embodiment, camera 510 and optics 516 are packagedwith a cylindrical vision module housing 514 and optional module housinglens protector 522.

The correlation of locations and distances within captured images iscritical to determining the timing of when to open and close tools 510to avoid a commodity plant 60 which has been identified in an imagecaptured a known distance ahead of the tools 410. To improve thecorrelation of the location of the commodity plant with the actuation oftools 410, it has been found advantageous to take into account fixed,variable, and asynchronous processes relating to detecting andcorrelating a commodity plant with the machine-relative coordinatespace. For example, applying an image timestamp upon the perceptionsystem 270 receiving the first data packet containing part of a newimage from the vision module 500, and applying a timestamp to data fromthe odometer encoder 232 based on the midpoint time between the datarequest and the receipt of the data.

An example of the coordinate space and tracking of the location ofobjects of interest and the tools 510 in the coordinate space can beunderstood from steps 1 thru 5 of FIG. 15, which correlate to the changein relative location of the objects of interest, e.g. commodity plant 60and weeds 70, and the tool blades 414 as the implement 100 traverses theplant line 62. Although shown in a simplified version with only oneplant line 62 in a field of view versus two in the illustrativeembodiment, each of the steps 1 thru 5 of FIG. 15 correlates to thex-axis 90 and y-axis 92 dimensions of the coordinate space, dividedalong each axis into a desired level of pixel or bin resolution thatcorresponding relates to the images and actual distances imaged andtraversed.

Referring to FIG. 5, as shown on the left side of tool in 358 ofbackbone 350, tool arm 300 also includes a tool platform 370 for modularand releasable mounting of tool attachments 400. For example, a platformtoolbar 372 may be precisely located on backbone 350 by a tool mount360. The platform toolbar 372 can support a tool mount 374, which mayinclude precision locating features such as those discussed for backbone350 for the precise mounting of tool attachment 400 thereto.

Referring to FIG. 6, optionally the tool platform 370 of tool arm 300may include a device for adjusting or actuating tool attachment 400relative to backbone 350, for example a z-axis linear slide table 380 asshown in the illustrative embodiment. One reason to include adjustmentfor each separate tool attachment is due to variations found incommodity fields 50 among different plant lines 62 within the same bed52 a. For example, depending on the formation and environmentalconditions such as compaction and erosion of bed 52 a, individual plantlines 62 may vary in height. For example, there may be a crest acrossthe bed 52 a such that plant lines on one part of the bed are at a lowerelevation than plant lines on another part of the bed, which also mayvary from the relative elevation of the furrows within which wheelassemblies 120 of the chassis 102 ride.

In the illustrative embodiment, the slide table 380 provides manualadjustment along the z-axis 94 relative to the backbone 350 of a toolattachment 400 mounted to the slide table. The slide table 380 includeslinear guides 382 upon which a table 384 may be translated up and down,for example, by cranking adjustment handle 386 and then locking table384 in the desired position using locking handle 388. The table 384provides a precision mounting surface for tool attachment 400.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 11, an illustrative tool attachment 400 canbe modularly and precisely coupled to tool arms 300. Base 402 is coupledto the tool arm 300, for example, to tool platform 370 or optionalz-axis linear slide table 380. A crop or field working tool actuator,for example, actuator 420 of tool attachment 400, can be a hydraulicallydriven actuator that includes housing 430 coupled to base 402 via alower pivot coupling 408 and a pneumatic damper 422. The pivot coupling408 and the pneumatic damper 422 allow actuator 420 to be momentarilydisplaced up or down in pitch about an axis, for example, the x-axis 90in which pivot coupling 408 is located. Momentary displacement isadvantageous in the event the tools 410 are presented with excess dragor a firm or solid obstacle such as rocks and the like that may damagethe tools 410 or other portion of the tool attachment 400, therebyminimizing the likelihood of damage to the tools 410 or to othercomponents of tool attachment 400. Advantageously, the pneumatic damper422 can include a detent or stiction of its pneumatic components thatrequire a sufficient level of force to overcome and allow pitching ofactuator 420 in pitch to prevent soil clumps or other forms of drag onthe tools 410 from inducing displacement, but allowing a firm or solidobstacle such as a rock to overcome the detent or stiction and allow thedamper to function to prevent damage to the tools, and be biased toquickly return the actuator 420 to its non-displaced pitch location.

In the illustrated example shown in FIG. 4, the tool arm 300 cultivatestwo adjacent plant lines 62; therefore, each tool arm 300 includes apair of tool attachments 400, one for each plant line 62. The toolplatforms 370 on the left and right side of backbone 350 are spacedalong the x-axis 90 so that the distance between the two toolattachments 400 matches the distance between plant lines 62.Additionally, the illustrative tool arm 300 is equipped with staticmounts 302 which have attached static cultivators 304, each positionedto cultivate and clear weeds located within the space 72 between plantlines 62.

As discussed earlier above, illustrative tool attachments 400 includetools 410 for cultivating the space 74 between adjacent commodity plants60 within plant line 62. As illustrated in FIG. 4, actuator 420 is in anormal and failsafe position in which arms 412 and blades 414 ofcultivating tools 410 are spread apart a distance sufficient so that theblades traverse the open space 74 between plant lines 62, as illustratedin FIGS. 14 and 15 and do not contact the root or other portion ofcommodity plant 60. Upon actuation of tools 410 by actuator 420, shafts466 extending through covers 432 of the housing 430, and upon which arms412 are attached by mounting features 468, rotate in a synchronizefashion to translate blades 414 into close proximity, thereby cultivatethe space 72 between the commodity plants 60 within the plant line 62.

The actuation of tools 410 provided by the actuator 420 is advantageousin that the movement of the tools 410 are synchronized and provide atransition time between the open and close positions that can beadjustable by an electronic solenoid controlled valve 426, for example,a proportional flow valve set by controller 202 and/or input at HMI 204,and/or a flow regulator 428 (not shown), located directly at housing 430in the illustrative embodiment to reduce latency and other undesirablecharacteristics with more remote activation. Additionally, actuator 420provides a slow initial and final speed and ramping up and down frominitial and final speed to the transition speed to avoid impulse likeaccelerations and decelerations, thereby greatly reducing or eliminatingany harmonic induced or other vibrations of arms 412 and blades 414 andalso greatly reducing or eliminating disturbance of soil that coulddamage the commodity plants 60, including from throwing soil onto thecommodity plants, as with prior designs, which can inhibit growth and orinduce spoilage.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional top view of actuator 420 of tool attachment400. Housing 430 defines various cavities 434. Housed within thesevarious cavities 434 is a rack and pinion type hydraulically drivenmechanism comprising a pair of pinions 460 each having a line of teeth464 enmeshed with rack teeth 442 defined by opposite sides of actuatorshuttle 442. Each pinion 460 includes a body 462 from which extendsshaft 466. Shafts 466 each pass through a sealed bearing 436 housed inthe base of housing 430, thereby allowing attachment of arm 412 to theshaft 466 as shown in FIG. 9.

As shown in FIG. 8, actuator shuttle 440 defines racks of teeth 442 onopposite sides, to which teeth 464 defined by pinion body 462 arerespectively enmeshed. As will be described in more detail furtherbelow, actuator shuttle 440 is located between a pair of plugs 470 a/b,each of which define stems 472 oriented toward the shuttle and whichinteract hydraulically with features of the shuttle along itslongitudinal axis, thereby synchronizing the rotation of pinions 460,shafts 466, and arms 412 attached thereto. Advantageously, the pinionsand thus the arms 412 follow a rate of movement profile that is sethydraulically by the mechanical features of the actuator 420 as will bedescribed below.

Referring specifically to FIG. 10 and generally to FIG. 9, FIG. 10 is anexploded view of the actuator shuttle 440, and a valve 490, and one plug470 b. Valve springs 488 and an additional valve 490 and associate plug470 a which interact with an opposite end 444 of the actuator shuttle440 are not shown in FIG. 10, but can be found in FIGS. 12 and 13. Plug470 b provides a hydraulic fluid path from recessed supply area 482through fluid channel 480 and into valve receiver bore 478. The stem 492portion of valve 490 is slidingly received within valve receiver bore478.

The valve 490 provides two potential paths for hydraulic fluid to escapevalve receiving bore 478 of the plug 470 b. The first channel, which isalways open, is port 496 defined longitudinally along the full length ofstem 492 and through the valve seat 498. The other hydraulic fluidchannel is available for a select segment of the valve stem 492translating within valve receiving bore 478. The bevel 494 defined alonga length of stem 492 allows hydraulic fluid to pass through it betweenvalve stem 492 and the wall defining the receiving bore 478 until thestem 492 is retracted within the bore 478 such that bevel 494 portion ofthe stem 492 is contained entirely within bore 478.

A piston head 474 and sealing area 476 defined at an end of stem 472 ofplug 470 b is received within a larger bore 446 defined by actuatorshuttle 440. Valve spring 488 is also located within bore 478, applyingoutward pressure on stem 492 to translate away from plug 470 b. Asimilar but smaller diameter piston head 474 defined by stem 472 of theother plug 470 a is located at an opposite end 444 of shuttle 440 and issimilarly received by the smaller bore 450 along with another valve 490and associated valve spring 488.

Referring now to FIG. 9, proportional solenoid valve 426 selectivelyprovides hydraulic pressure to the recessed supply area 482 of the leftplug 470 a or to the right plug 470 b. In the position of shuttle 440shown in FIG. 9, hydraulic pressure was applied to plug 470 a therebyfilling the portion of smaller bore 450 located between piston head 474and bore 452, thereby translating shuttle 440 and valve 490 toward plug470 b until the end 444 of the actuating shuttle 440 contacts shoulder471 of plug 470B, stopping the translation. In this position, as shownin FIG. 8, pinions 460 are rotated outwardly such that the arms 412 andblades 414 are in the open position as shown in FIG. 4.

In order to actuate arms 412 inwardly to a closed position, actuatingshuttle 440 must be hydraulically translated toward plug 470 a, which isto the right in FIG. 8 and to the left in FIG. 9 (because of thedifferences in orientation of the two cross-sectional views). Morespecifically, control system 200 actuates the proportional solenoidvalve 426 to supply hydraulic fluid to recessed supply area 482surrounding fluid channel 480 of plug 470 b. Fluid is forced into valvereceiver bore 478 defined by plug 470 b, and further forced through thelongitudinal port 496 defined by valve 490 b. At the beginning of thestroke to close arms 412, because valve stem 492 is fully retainedwithin the valve receiving bore 478, hydraulic fluid is not able to flowthrough the larger pathway provided by bevel 494 (see FIG. 10) definedby a portion of the length of stem 492; therefore, the rate of hydraulicfluid expanding the space between piston head 474 of plug 470 b andlarger bore 452 of shuttle 440 is slower at the beginning of the stroke.As the shuttle 440 translates left toward the shoulder 471 of plug 470a, valve spring 488 compressed against valve stem 492 of valve 490 bmaintains valve seat 498 in contact with larger bore and 452. As lessand less of stem 492 is retained within valve receiving bore 478 of plug470 b, eventually a shallow ramp portion of bevel 494 is no longerretained and closed off by receiving bore 478, thereby providing anincreased rate of flow filling the increasing space between the pistonhead 474 of plug 470 b and end 452 of the larger bore of the shuttle440. The availability of fluid flow through the second pathway formed bybevel 494 accelerates the speed of translation of shuttle 440 andtherefore accelerates the rate of shafts 466 and rate of movement of thearm 412. The acceleration continues through the ramped portion of bevel494 until the flat portion of bevel 494 is extending beyond piston head474, eventually reaching a steady speed once the flat portion of bevel494 is extending from within valve receiver bore 478

While actuator shuttle 440 is translating toward plug 470 a to closearms 412, hydraulic fluid is unrestricted in departing recessed supplyarea 482 of plug 470 a and returning to the hydraulic reservoir 156.However, because hydraulic fluid must escape the space between pistonhead 474 of plug 470 a and smaller bore end 452 of shuttle 440, the rateof fluid flow may be limited by the continual availability of port 496through valve 490 a, and the transient availability of hydraulic fluidto escape through the open area of bevel 494 defined by stem 492 ofvalve 490 a. Specifically, as actuator shuttle 440 nears the end of itstravel to close arms 412, and the end 444 of shuttle 440 nears shoulder471 of plugged 470 a, smaller bore end 452 will have pressed valve seat498 to compress valve spring 488 to the extent that the ramp area ofbevel 494 will be the only portion exposed outside of valve receivingbore 478, thus decelerating the translation rate of shuttle 440.Eventually no portion of the bevel 494 will be extending from receiving478, thus fixing the final rate of translation of shuttle 440 towardplug 470 a and arms 412 toward a close position at a fixed, slow rateuntil end 444 contacts shoulder 471 of plug 470 a at the end of theclose stroke.

Advantageously, a corresponding relationship between the two valves 490a and 490 b and the features of shuttle 440 and features of plug 470 aand 470 b are repeated as arms 412 are open by the control ofproportional solenoid valve 426 suppling hydraulic fluid to recesssupply area 482 of plug 470 a, thus providing translation of shuttle 440and arms 412 back to the normal open position. This translation includesa similar motion profile as that provided by the closing stroke, namely:an initial slow rate of acceleration, followed by an high rate ofacceleration, followed by a fixed speed, followed by a high rate ofdeceleration, and a final a slow rate of deceleration.

The motion profile provides position sensitive damping, providingdamping that prevents jerking of tools 410 near the limits of travel ofthe actuator, advantageously minimizing or eliminating the throwing ofsoils by tools 410, particularly soil that could be thrown onto thecommodity plants. The motion profile can be provided solely by thehydro-mechanical features discussed above, solely by hydraulic valvecontrols, or a combination of the two.

One difference in the opening and closing strokes of the actuator 420 isthe diameters of the two bores 446 and 450 and associated piston heads474 of plugs 470 a and 470 b. Assuming proportional solenoid valve 426is set to provide the same hydraulic supply for either stroke, theclosing stroke will proceed more slowly in the illustrative embodimentthan the opening stroke because the larger diameter of bore 446 and ofpiston head 474 of plug 470 b requires a greater volume of hydraulicfluid to complete the stroke. The result is that the opening stroke ofarms 412 occurs more quickly than the closing strokes of arms 412.

Referring to FIG. 2A, in one illustrative embodiment of implement 100, asecond and third set of tools arms 300 are provided by coupling toolbarextensions 107 to each end of the toolbar 106 of chassis 102.Advantageously, the frame 110, wheel assemblies 120, hydraulic system150, electrical system 180, and control system 200 have all been sizedto accommodate the added loads of three sets of on or more tool arms300, thereby reducing the number of passes required to completecultivation of a commodity field 50 by a factor of three.

Referring to FIG. 13, a schematic block diagram illustrates aspects ofelectrical system 180, including control system 200. Control system 200can includes a ruggedized controller 202, for example, an X90 mobilecontroller available from B&R Industrial Automation of Roswell, Ga., anda machine vision/perception computer 270, including a graphics processor(GPU) 272 such as a TX2i available from NVIDIA Corp. of Santa Clara,Calif. Controller 202 provides overall machine control of implement 100,and perception computer 270 includes processing of images received fromvision module 500, including a neural network, for example, aconvolutional neural network (CNN) for AI processing of images andoptionally other data to classify, locate, and bound objects ofinterest, including at least commodity plants 60, and optionally otherobjects, including for example, weeds 70 and debris (not shown), and toprovide a confidence level associated with the classification and/orbounding. Classification of objects of interest may include the plant orweed variety, health, for example, including a disease state/type, andother attributes in the art that are knowable optically. Alternatively,a single computing unit may be substituted and provide the machinecontrol, image, and AI processing. Also alternatively, some or all ofthe functions provided by one or both of the machine controller 202 andperception computer 270 may be provided by the vision module 500. Theperception computer 270 may also include pre-processing of images priorto processing by the CNN, and/or post-processing of data resulting fromthe CNN processing of images.

In some implementations or selected use of implement 100, control of thetool attachment 400 may only require processing of objects classified asthe commodity plant of interest, in other implementations or selecteduse, control may only require processing of objects classified as weedsor a set of weed types, and in yet another implementation or selecteduse, control may require processing of both commodity plants and weeds.For example, depending on whether the attached tool attachment 400 isbeing used for weeding, thinning, or application of chemicals, includingselectively on one or both of commodity plants and weeds.

Control system 200 also includes various controls 230, generallyinterfaced with controller 202, for example via a wireless or wiredlocal area network (LAN) 206, for example, Ethernet. Controls 230 mayinclude HMI 204, for example a touchscreen display device, and variousinput sensors, including a tilt sensor/inclinometer 234, odometerencoder 236 mounted with axle 124 (FIG. 5), side shift position switchor encoder 238, and various hydraulic pressure sensors 212-222. Controlsystem 200 also includes output controls, generally controlled bycontroller 202, including valves controlling hydraulic actuators,including cylinders, discussed above. Machine controller 202 thusgenerally controls actuator 420 to close and open cultivator tools 410around commodity plants 60, side shift of tool arms 300 to maintainalignment of the tool attachments 400 with plant lines 60, pitch controlof blades 414 via control of gauge wheels height, controlling the heightof tool arms 300 to maintain proper blade depth 414, and to lift and/orcenter tools arms 300 in a transit mode when raising of implement 100 isdetected.

Perception computer 270 provides the image processing, includingbounding, classification, confidence, and location mapping of objects ofinterest, including commodity plants 60, to implement the generalprocess illustrated by FIG. 4 and discussed further above, includingproviding the data necessary for some of the processes controlled bycontroller 202, including the closing and opening of the cultivatortools 410 around commodity plants 60, and side shifting of the tool arms300 to maintain alignment of the tool attachments 400 with plant lines60. To do this, perception computer 270 provides generally AI enabledobject detection, and maps the detected objects to a relative coordinatespace derived from timestamping of displacement data from the odometerencoder 236, image timestamping, and determination of objects ofinterest, including the centerline of plant lines 62 relative to visionmodule 500, and thus relative to the tool attachments 400.

Advantageously, the operation of implement 100 is not dependent on GPSor other such absolute or geographic positioning data or systems and canfunction solely using the relative positions of the plant lines 62 andthe commodity plants 60 detected by the perception computer 270.Advantageously, the operation of the control system 200, includingperception computer 270 and controller 202, may be autonomous in that itdoes not require remote data or computer resources; however, a local orremote wireless or wide area network (WAN) connection 208 may be used toremotely monitor, update, or to optionally supplement the data andcomputing resources of the control system 200.

An illustrative HMI for setup of control system 200 can includeselecting a commodity plant type, a unit of measurement, and the spacingbetween commodity plants 62 with the plant line 60 and the spacingbetween adjacent plant lines 60.

An illustrative HMI can include entering the distance from the blades414 of each tool attachment 400 to the center of field of view of thecamera module 500 on that tool arm 300. Other configuration relating tothe tool attachment 400 can include timing information relating to thecycling of the blades 414 through their range of motion. Otherconfiguration information includes cooling fan 118 temperature trigger,pressure limit settings and delay and transition times for the actuationup and down for the tool arms 300, odometer 336 calibration for rearwheel 126, ground pressure backside and wheels threshold.

An illustrative HMI can includes the overall status of control system200, voltage of electrical system 180, hydraulic oil pressure andtemperature, and settings selected on setup page 242. Additional controlsettings that can be selected include the distance prior to plant centerto open tool 410, the distance after plant center to close tool 410,machine angle, which sets the pitch of blades 414, and a percent ofground pressure, which relates to how much the tool arm 300 lifthydraulic cylinder 346 lightens the weight of the tool arm 300 appliedto the ground by ground follower 390. And finally, a system start/stopselection and a tool arm lift/lower selection is provided.

An HMI 204 can also provide a selectable real-time view from each visionmodule 500 and an alarm page.

Advantageously each vision module 500, which in the illustrativeembodiment includes one camera 510, is centered between two plant lines60 and has a sufficient field of view for typical spacing between plantlines 60 in beds 52 b to have within its field of view and process theclassification, confidence, location, and/or bounds for up to at leasttwo plant lines 60 simultaneously. Tracking two plant lines 60 by asingle camera and image not only reduces hardware requirements, but alsoprovides for more precise plant line following than is provided by onecamera centered on and tracking each plant line. Additionally, forembodiments that limit each camera 510 to tracking two plant lines,instead of tracking all plant lines 60 in a bed 52 b, better resolution,precision, and data collection is provided by the vision module 50.

Lamps 506 are strobed at an intensity near sunlight levels to minimizethe impact of variations in sunlight and on shadows that dependent onenvironmental conditions and time of day. The set of images and data totrain the CNN used with perception computer 270 can nonetheless includeimages taken in various environmental conditions and times to day toimprove functionality.

In the operate mode, the processing and control timing accommodates arate of travel of implement 100 up to a limit, for example, a limit thatensures every commodity plant 62 will appear in at least two imagesbefore that plant will be out of the field of view of the camera 510 andapproaching the tools 410. Using such a limit improves classification,locating, and tracking and is also required to ensure tools 410 can beactuated and the blades 414 translate to an opened position openedbefore the arrival of the plant 62 at the blades 414. Alternative oradditional criteria for rate of travel may also be used, includingcommodity plant or environmental conditions warranting a lower rate thanthe implement 100 may be technically capable off

An illustrative state machine for actuation of tools 410 is shown inFIG. 16.

Pre-processing of image data by vision module 500 or perception computer270 prior to inference processing by the CNN or other AI model caninclude, but is not limited to, image timestamping, converting the imagecolor space, for example, to RGB, rotating, rescaling the image, andother pre-processing known in the art.

Additionally, post-processing of the object bounds, location,classification, and confidence provided by the CNN or other AI model canbe used to reduce errors and provide some fail safes for the AIprocessed data. For example, when the operation mode is initiated at thebeginning of a plant line 62, the tools 410 remain open until commodityplants have been classified and located for a preset span of distancealong plant line 62. Also, since the root of a commodity plant 60 iswhat is being protected for weeding, by actuating the tool 410 toseparate the blades 414, post-processing determines the center of thebounded object, thus more precisely locating the root and allowingcloser weeding to it. Additionally, detected objects with a confidencelevel below a selected threshold may be ignored or reclassified, as canobjects with a bounding size outside of a threshold range.

Also, threshold ranges can be statically selected, or may be dynamicallyselected or dynamically adjusted based on average, mean, or other dataanalysis of object detections for a particular bed 52, field 50, type ofcommodity plant 60, period of time, or other such adjustment setcriteria. For example, commodity plant 60 intervals or bounding size maybe dynamic. If commodity plants 60 have been consistently classified andlocated at a regular interval of distance, if an expected commodityplant 60 is not identified along the plant line 62 at the expectedinterval, the existence of a commodity plant 60 at that location canoptionally be inferred to avoid removing a commodity plant 60 that wasnot identified by the perception computer 270. Inversely, a potentialfalse positive can be inferred and optionally reclassified for removal,for example, if a commodity plant 60 is classified and located at alocation between the regular interval, additionally or alternatively, anoutlier from a consistent range of bounding sizes may optionally beinferred to be a false positive.

If the distance between the location of two adjacent commodity plants 60along a line 62 is too small and is thus insufficient to reliably cyclethe tools 410 closed and opened again before the tools 410 traverse thesecond commodity plant, optionally the objects may be merged and thetools 410 will remain open for the full span of the two commodity plants60, or non-max suppression may be used to remove the object with a lowerconfidence level, bounded size, or another such parameter. Additionally,or alternatively, commodity plants 60 located at other than the expectedinterval may be reclassified or otherwise treated as a weed for removalby tools 410 if thinning of the commodity plants 60 is desired andselected. Commodity plants 60 that are not located within a thresholdrange of a plant line 62 may also be reclassified or otherwise treatedas a weed.

Also, if the inference time is not sufficient to classify and locatecommodity plants in time for the tools 410 to be opened, for example, ifthe implement 100 is being pulled at too high of a speed, the tools 410will remain open to prevent damage to the plant line 62.

Lastly, pre- and/or post-processing also addresses plant line 62following and the left-right centering of the tools 410 on each plantline. For example, in the illustrative embodiment a single vision module500 is used for two adjacent lines 62. Depending on the field of view 58of the lens 516, objects detected in lines 62 to the right and left ofthe two lines being worked by the that tool arm 300 may be masked inpre- or post-processing. Also, if a single line 62 is detected for oneof the vision modules 500 rather than a pair of lines, rather thanpost-processing centering the left-right shifting of the tools arms 300between the two lines, they are offset from the single line theappropriate distance for the line spacing set, for example, via the HMI.Also, left-right shifting may be based on a single selected visionmodule 500, or based on an averaging or other post-processing dataanalysis of the relative line locations detected for some or all of thevision modules 500.

For commodity plants 60 and optionally other objects that are classifiedand for which a location, bounding, and confidence level is desired, theimage timestamp is matched to data from the odometer 232 for thattimestamp, or, to save communication and computing bandwidth for theodometer, odometer data can be interpolated from the odometer dataspanning the image timestamp. The odometer location of the plant can bedetermined from the timestamp, for example, by offsetting the odometerlocation based on the conversion from pixels that the plant is from thecenter of the field of view of the image. Finally, the odometer dataincrement at which the plant will be located at the location of blades414 can then be determined by knowing the odometer distance between thecenter of the field of view of the image and thus camera 510 and theblades 414.

Alternatively, the location mapping of the commodity plants 60 can bedone based on odometer and pixel conversions to real world measurementcoordinate space, or to a different, even arbitrary measurement andlocation base for a coordinate space, as long as it correlates to thereal world location of the camera 510, blades 414, and plants 60.Additionally, image flow of objects between consecutive images can beprocessed by perception computer 270 to determine speed and relativedistances/locations over time, including when plants 60 will be locatedat blades 414 without requiring the use of data from an odometer 236.

An illustrative state machine 600 for reliable actuation of tools 410,including the above discussed features, is shown in FIG. 16.

FIG. 17 is an illustrative process 700 for training and operatingimplement 100 for a particular operation on a field of a particular typeof commodity plant 60. Generally, the first three steps are completed bythe implement builder, supplier, and/or service provider, and theremaining steps 704 through 708 are completed by an end user. In step704 one or more sets of image data relevant to a particular type ofcommodity plant 60 are collected and objects in the image are tagged,for example objects are tagged as commodity plant, weeds, and/or otherobjects, including typical debris such as rocks and dead vegetation.Generally the image data will be most effective at training perceptionsystem 270 for an acceptably high rate of performance if the image datais collected using the vision module 500 and under all environmental andother conditions expected to be experienced in operation, includingvariations in soil, soil condition, maturity of or absence of commodityplants and weeds, and the like as is known in the art. In step 706 theperception system 270 is trained using the image data. This step mayinvolve multiple sets of data, training and testing, varying theselected neural network model, varying parameters of the selected neuralnetwork model, and/or otherwise tuning the performance of the model asis known in the art of machine learning.

In step 708, the implement is calibrated. For example, various systemand subsystem hydraulic pressures of hydraulic system 150 are set withmanual regulators and/or the HMI touchscreen 204 as discussed above, anyinput sensors requiring calibration are calibrated, for example, settingthe odometer encoder 232 based on the rear wheel 126 diameter.Additionally, the portion of the hydraulic system 150 operating the lifthydraulic cylinder 346 for the four-bar linkage portion of the tool arm300 is calibrated to operate within a selected range of differentialpressure and individual pressure limits to provide an operatorselectability within that range. For example, so that the operator caneasily adjust within the preselected range the weight of the tool arm300 that is carried by the lift hydraulic cylinder 346 versus any weighton the ground applied by the ground follower 390 or the tool 410,depending on desired operation, performance, and characteristics,including but not limited to a desired level of dynamic following ofvaried soil profile levels, current field conditions, and soilcompaction presence and/or avoidance. If the specific tool attachment400 is mounted to tool arm 300, then the distance from the end effectorof the tool, for example, blade 414 to the center of the field of viewof vision module 500 is also measured or otherwise verified and set incontrol system 200. Other additional calibration and or testing may alsobe completed at this step.

Still referring to FIG. 17, in step 710 an operator selects and mountsthe tool attachment 400 for the desired operation and the particularcommodity plant type. Advantageously, the same chassis 102 and the sametool arm 300 can be used for a wide range of commodity plant types and awide range of operations. Training may need to be completed for controlsystem 200 to handle some variations in plant types and operations, anddifferent tool attachments 400 may also be utilized.

Once the tool attachments 400 are mounted to tool arms 300, in step 712the operator can next provide any desired setting for control system 200at HMI 204 for that specific operation, including as illustrated inFIGS. 18A-18C and discussed above, and also any additional calibrationfrom step 708 which can now be completed with the mounted toolattachments 400.

In step 714, a vehicle such as a tractor 40 is used to power andnavigate the implement 100 to and within a field 50 to be worked. Theimplement 100 is lined up with the start of the commodity plant lines62. In step 716, chassis 102 is lowered for operation, for example,using the three-point hitch on a tractor, and the implement is pulledalong the plant lines. As discussed above, once control system 200senses in step 716 that it has been lowered at the beginning of a plantline 62, for example using a weight-on-wheels sensor 218, inclinometer234, or other sensor, the control system 200 switches from a transitmode to an operate mode, which includes the state machine 600 operationillustrated in FIG. 16.

Because the systems of implement 100 are designed to be automatic oncecalibrated and set up, for example, including detecting plant lines 62,side shifting tool arms 300 to follow the plant lines, and to completethe selected working operation, such as weeding, on the field 50,advantageously no added in-cab controls are required for monitoring oroperating implement 100. The HMI 204 is generally located on theimplement 100 and any in-cab controls on the tractor 40 are optional,for example via a wireless device, for example a tablet computer orother handheld or mounted touch screen device, including for optionalin-cab observation, changing settings, or initiating or ceasingoperation; however, all that is required from tractor 40 to operateimplement 100 is navigating across field 50 and raising and lowering thechassis 102 at the beginning and end of the plant lines 62.

In step 718, the control system 200, including machine controller 202and perception system 270, perform the processing and control discussedabove providing autonomous working of the plant lines 62. For example,the processing and control includes, but not limited to, detecting plantlines 62; centering tool arms 300 on plant lines 62; classifying,assigning confidence, bounding, locating and tracking objects ofinterest, including the above discussed optional pre-/post-processingfunctions; following the working surface 58 using lift cylinder 346 oftool arm 300, and operating the tool attachment 400 to perform theworking operation for the plant lines 62.

In step 720, upon reaching the end of the plant lines 62, the implement100 is lifted up off the wheels by the tractor 40 pulling the implement.The control system 200 responds by switching from the operate mode totransit mode. In transit mode, control system 200 ceases variousoperations controlled by machine controller 202 and perception system270, including detecting plant lines 62, following the working surface58 with lift cylinder 346, and the operation of the tool attachment 400.Additionally, any reset functions are completed, for example,recentering the tools arms 300 via side-shift actuator 176. If the field50 is not yet completed, then the process continues at step 714 withaligning the implement 100 at the start of additional plant lines 62 andlowering the implement.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in theforegoing drawings and description, the same is to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown and described andthat all changes and modifications that come within the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined in the claims and summary are desired to beprotected.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

-   40 Tractor-   50 Commodity Field-   52 a Prior Art Bed-   52 b New Bed-   54 Bed Width-   56 Furrow-   58 Working Surface/Field-of-View-   60 Commodity Plant-   62 Line-   64 Line Spacing 10″-   66 Plant Spacing 10′-   70 Weeds-   72 Space Between Lines-   74 Space Between Plants-   80 Plant Center-   82 Space Before-   84 Space After-   90 X-Axis-   92 Y-Axis-   94 Z-Axis-   100 Agricultural Implement-   102 Chassis-   104 Front Crossbar-   106 Rear Crossbar/Toolbar-   107 Toolbar Extension-   108 End Plate-   110 Frame-   112 Thrust Plates-   114 Cover-   116 Hood-   118 Tool Mounts [static cultivators]-   120 Wheel Assembly-   122 Support Brackets-   123 Opening-   124 Rear Axle-   126 Rear Wheel-   128 Front Axle-   130 Front Wheel/Gauge-   132 Front Cantilever-   134 Pivot-   136 Thrust Plates-   138 Wheel Span-   140 Hitch Receiver-   142 Bottom Hitch Clevis-   144 Vertical Slot-   146 Top Hitch Clevis-   148 Horizontal Slot-   150 Hydraulic System-   152 PTO Driven Pump-   154 Hydraulic Motor-   156 Reservoir-   158 Oil Cooler-   160 Manifold-   162 Accumulator-   164 Main Regulator-   166 Side Shift Regulator-   168 Tool Actuator Regulator-   170 Tool Arm Lift Valves-   172 Gauge/Pitch Actuator-   174 Gauge Wheel Valve-   176 Side Shift Actuator-   178 Slide Shift Valve-   180 Electrical System-   182 Alternator-   184 Power Distribution/Regulation-   186 Battery-   188 Oil Cooler Fans-   190 Safety Strut-   192 Safety Support-   194 Pivots-   196 Plant line Alignment Bar-   198 Threaded Rod/Screw-   199 Rod Coupling-   200 Control System-   201 Enclosure-   202 Machine Controller-   204 HMI-   206 LAN (Ethernet/Bus)-   208 WAN Connection-   210 Hydraulic Controls-   212 PTO Pump Pressure-   214 System Pressure-   216 Motor Pressure-   218 Gauge Cyl. Pressure Switch-   220 Side Shift Press-   222 Lift-Upside Press-   230 Electric Controls-   232 Odometer Encoder-   234 Inclinometer-   238 Side Shift Position-   240 Touch Screen-   242 Setup Page-   244 Configuration-   246 Control-   248 Camera View-   270 Perception System-   272 GPU-   274 Ruggedized Housing-   280 Convolutional Neural Network-   282 Input-   284 Output-   286 Post Processing-   288 Plant Map-   290 Training-   300 Modular Smart Tool Arm-   302 Static Mounts-   304 Static Cultivators-   306 Raised Position-   308 Lowered Position-   310 Mount-   312 Sides-   314 Back Span-   316 Front Span-   318 Toolbar Passage-   320 Clamp-   322 Guides-   324 Bore-   326 Sleeves-   328 Adjustment Nut-   330 Articulating Base-   332 Linear X-Axis Slide Table-   334 Linear Bearings-   338 Brackets-   339 Alignment Bar Opening-   340 Pivots-   342 Bottom Linkage-   344 Top Linkage-   346 Lift Hydraulic Cylinder-   348 Top Cantilever-   350 Backbone-   352 Billet-   354 Base End-   356 Linkage Mounts-   358 Tool End-   360 Tool Mount-   362 Vision Module Receiving Area-   364 Precision Mount Features-   366 Ground Follower Mount-   370 Tool Platform-   372 Toolbar-   374 Tool Mount-   376 Precision Locator Features-   380 Z-Axis Linear Slide Table-   382 Linear Guides-   384 Table-   386 Adjust-   388 Lock-   390 Ground Follower-   392 Lever-   394 Stop-   396 Roller-   398 Height-   399 Lever Pivot-   400 Tool Attachment-   402 Base-   404 Mounting Features-   406 Bracket-   408 Pivot-   410 tools—Cultivator-   412 Arm-   414 Blade-   416 Pitch Angle-   418 AB Open/Close Position-   420 Actuator-   422 Pneumatic Damper-   426 Proportional Solenoid Valve-   428 Flow Regulator-   430 Housing-   432 Cover-   434 Cavity-   436 Bearing-   440 Actuator Shuttle-   442 Rack Teeth-   444 Ends-   446 Larger Bore-   448 Bore End-   450 Smaller Bore-   452 Bore End-   460 Pinion Gear-   462 Body-   464 Teeth-   466 Sensor-   468 Tool Mounting Features-   470 Plug-   471 Shoulder-   472 Stem-   474 Piston Head-   476 Sealing Areas-   478 Valve Receiver Bore-   480 Fluid Channel-   482 Recess/Supply Area-   488 Spring-   490 Valve-   492 Valve Shaft-   494 Bevel-   496 Port-   498 Valve Seat-   500 Vision Module-   502 Mounting Interface-   504 Module Housing-   506 Lamps-   508 Lamp Mounting-   510 Camera-   512 Electronics Package-   514 Connectors-   516 Optical Lens-   518 Dust Lens-   520 Optics Housing-   522 Module Housing Lens Protector

1. A tool arm operable by a precision agricultural implement,comprising: a mount for coupling the tool arm to the implement; anarticulating base operatively coupled to the mount; and a backbonemember coupled to the articulating base, the backbone defining anagricultural tool mount; and wherein the articulating base enablesmovement of the backbone member in at least two axes relative to themount.
 2. The tool arm of claim 1, where the backbone member is formedfrom a unitary billet.
 3. The tool arm of claim 1, wherein: thearticulating base includes a lift actuator, and a first mode ofoperation of the lift actuator provides vertical movement of thebackbone member along a vertical axis relative to the mount.
 4. The toolarm of claim 3, wherein a second mode of operation of the lift actuatorsupports a selected portion of a mass of and mass supported by thebackbone member, thereby reducing a downward force of the backbonemember toward a working surface of a field.
 5. The tool arm of claim 1,wherein: the articulating base includes at least a pair of linkages; andthe at least a pair of linkages, the mount, and the backbone member forma four-bar linkage.
 6. The tool arm of claim 1, wherein the articulatingbase and the mount are coupled with at least one linear motion bearing.7. The tool arm of claim 1, further comprising a ground follower forcontacting a working surface of a field and positioning the backbonemember at a fixed height relative to the working surface.
 8. The toolarm of claim 7, wherein the ground follower includes a lever pivotablycoupled to the backbone member and a sensor for sensing a rotationalposition of the lever relative to the backbone member.
 9. The tool armof claim 8, wherein the ground follower further includes a wheelrotationally coupled to a distal end of the lever, the wheel forcontacting and following the working surface of the field.
 10. The toolarm of claim 8, wherein the ground follower lever includes a stop tolimit a range of pivotable motion relative to the backbone member,thereby limiting a range of downward movement of the backbone memberrelative to the working surface of the field.
 11. The tool arm of claim1, further comprising a machine vision module; and wherein: the backbonemember further defines a receiver; the machine vision module coupled tothe receiver; and the machine vision module comprises at least onedigital camera and at least one lamp.
 12. The tool arm of claim 1,further comprising a tool attachment platform coupled to theagricultural tool mount, the tool attachment platform including a toolmounting location and an adjustment mechanism for translating the toolmounting location along at least a first axis relative to the backbonemember.
 13. The tool arm of claim 1, further comprising a firstagricultural tool coupled to the agricultural tool mount.
 14. The toolarm of claim 13, further comprising a second agricultural tool coupledto the agricultural tool mount; and wherein: the first agricultural toolis positioned to align with a first plant line; and the secondagricultural tool is positioned to align with a second plant line. 15.The tool arm of claim 13, further comprising a second agricultural toolcoupled to the agricultural tool mount; and wherein: the firstagricultural tool is adapted to perform a first working operation on atleast one of a plant and a field; and the second agricultural tool isadapted to perform a second working operation on at least one of a plantand a field.
 16. The tool arm of claim 13, further comprising at leastone biased damper coupled with the first agricultural tool to resist butallow movement and return of the first agricultural tool about at leasta first axis, thereby enabling the first agricultural tool to be brieflydisplaced during contact of the first agricultural tool with anobstacle, thereby limiting damage to the first agricultural tool fromthe obstacle.
 17. The tool arm of claim 1, further comprising: a firstcultivating tool coupled to the agricultural tool mount; and a firstactuator for selectively operating the first cultivating tool.
 18. Thetool arm of claim 17, wherein the actuator is hydraulically operated andincludes a hydraulic valving system providing acceleration of motion ofthe first cultivating tool upon initiating a range of motion andproviding deceleration of motion of the first cultivating tool uponapproaching an end of the range of motion.
 19. The tool arm of claim 17,wherein the actuator provides position sensitive damping of motion ofthe first cultivating tool, thereby reducing disturbances of a workingsurface of a field due to movement impulses of the first cultivatingtool.
 20. The tool arm of claim 17, further comprising: a secondcultivating tool coupled to the tool mount; and a second actuator forselectively operating the second cultivating tool; and wherein: the atleast a first cultivating tool is positioned to work a first plant line;and the second cultivating tool is positioned to work a second plantline.
 21. A tool arm operable by a precision agricultural implement,comprising: a mount for coupling the tool arm to the implement; anarticulating base including: at least a pair of linkages; a liftactuator; at least one linear motion bearing coupling the articulatingbase to the mount; and a unitary backbone member coupled to the at leasta pair of linkages, the backbone defining a tool mount; and wherein thelift actuator operates to move the unitary backbone member along avertical axis relative to the mount and the at least one linear motionbearing operates to allow movement of the unitary backbone member alonga horizontal axis relative to the mount.
 22. A tool arm operable by aprecision agricultural implement, comprising: a mount for coupling thetool arm to the implement; an articulating base operatively coupled tothe mount; a unitary backbone coupled to the articulating base, theunitary backbone defining a tool mount; and at least a firstagricultural tool coupled to the tool mount, the at least firstagricultural tool adapted to perform a working operation on at least oneof a plant and a field; and wherein the articulating base enablesmovement of the unitary backbone and the at least first agriculturaltool in at least two axes relative to the mount.